A Japanese Square in a Disney Land
by justplainrii
Summary: Sora, a 10th grade student from Japan, gets the opportunity to study abroad at Disney High School in America.  While staying with his host family, the Goofs, he encounters culture shock, student life, and perhaps even... romance?  Disney High School AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:**

This story takes place in a cartoon-world, where anthropomorphic characters are just as common as human-shaped and fully-animal-shaped ones. It's sort of like the House of Mouse, in a way!

Calisota, the state this story takes place in, is a fictional state used by the Disneyverse. It lies somewhere between Ohio and West Virginia. Some cities that lie within it include Spoonerville, Duckberg, Mouseton, Goosetown, and St. Canard—all of these are locations for various Disney cartoons such as Goof Troop, Duck Tales, and Darkwing Duck.

Spoonerville, the city this story takes place in, is the setting of Goof Troop and A Goofy Movie.

Keep this in mind as you read, and enjoy!

- Rii

ºoº

**Chapter One**

The first thing Riku said upon hearing the news was, "I don't believe you."

"No, seriously! We got it in the mail yesterday!" Sora said, waving his arms around as Kairi examined the letter. "You should have seen my mom, she totally freaked!"

"An exchange program in America? Wow, Sora, congratulations!" she said, handing him back the letter. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"Hey!" Sora replied, and folded his arms. "I'm a good enough student, Kairi. It's not like I'm dumb or anything."

"I know," she said, smiling and winking at him, her tongue sticking out a little.

"And yet your brother manages to be top in the class," Riku added, a cool tone in his voice.

"Hey! Roxas is different," Sora said. "He's got such a stick up his butt, how could he not be so anal about his grades? You've seen how he gets when he gets anything below a 90. It's also the only reason my mom lets him dye his hair like that."

"And hang out with those creepy visual-kei freaks?" said Riku, eying one that passed, with violently-dyed blue hair that had to break some sort of rule in the dress code; he had a big red X painted between his eyes, for some reason. "Why do you use that stupid name of his, anyways?"

"Because... because he likes it, okay?" Sora replied.

"You're honestly too nice," Riku said, looking at the sky with a dry smile.

"So, when are you leaving for America?" Kairi asked, bringing the conversation to its original subject.

"End of June," Sora said. "You know, right after summer vacation ends. Oh, _how's my accent?" _he asked in English, the language in question.

"_Still needs some work,"_ Kairi replied, in flawless speech; she was half-American, anyways, so she spoke the language fluently. Unsurprisingly, she and her sister Namine were valuable assets for "making sure" homework was correct.

"Aw, man," Sora said. "Oh well. Anyways! I'm more excited about the culture than the language, anyways… And I'll have lots of time to practice when I'm there."

"Lots of anthros over there, eh?" said Riku. "You know, the really prominent ones, with faces and noses and everything."

Sora nodded. "Yeah, those guys! All we have around here just have ears and stuff, maybe a tail too. That's boring, _anyone_ can be like that with a cosplay."

"Yeah, you'll get to see the real thing," Riku said.

"That must be exciting," Kairi said, smiling. "Seeing all sorts of diversity, I mean."

"Yeah!" Sora replied. "I wonder if my host family will be that way? You know, like, anthro and all."

"Anything's possible," said Kairi.

"Yeah, you're right," Sora said.

The chimes for the change of hour began to toll, and Riku grabbed his bag. "We should get to class. I'll try and see you at lunch, okay?"

"Sure thing," Sora replied, and took Kairi's hand as they entered the school.

ºoº

At lunch, the discussion continued with the addition of several friends, and though they weren't the ones going to America, the news made the rest of them just as excited as Sora. "Dude, you're gonna see some American babes!" Tidus said, pumping his fist in the air and winking.

"Tidus, stop it," Sora said, a little embarrassed; Kairi was watching. "I'm going over to study."

"Come on, man, you know that there's some _seriously_ wicked stuff over there," Hayner said. "I hear that _all_ the girls are well-built, if you know what I mean."

"Oh stop it!" Olette said, giving him a strong nudge to the shoulder. "Would you rather have an American girlfriend over a Japanese?"

"Absolutely," Tidus and Hayner both replied, and Pence laughed, his juice-bag flying out of his mouth in the process.

"Men," said Kairi, shaking her head with the rest of the girls. "Sora, now that I think about it, we won't be able to see each other while you're over there."

"Don't sweat it, Kairi!" Sora said, leaning over and giving her a small kiss on the cheek. "You'll always be mine. What's so much better about American girls? You're perfect."

Kairi blushed pleasantly, as Tidus whispered, rather unquietly: "Bigger boobs."

"Tidus!" Selphie squeaked, and pulled on his hair. "You're a pig."

"Why, thank you," Tidus replied, in an almost proud manner, and the rest of the boys laughed at him.

"Hey, did I miss anything?" Riku asked, coming into the room, bento box in hand.

"No, nothing really," said Namine. "Hi, Riku."

"Hey," he replied casually.

"What's on the menu, man?" Sora asked, as Riku opened his lunch.

"Meatballs and wieners today, I think," he said, and looked into the box. "Not quite sure. Ah, fried chicken! Even better."

"Awesome," said Sora, and glanced a little disappointedly in his box. "I just got curry."

"At least it's not too spicy," said Pence. "Spicy things... eww."

"Yeah, I hate spicy curry," Sora agreed. "Oh man, I almost forgot! American food! Man, that's gonna be _awesome._"

"They have cafeterias like here, right?" said Hayner. "But not a lot of people bring their own stuff."

"Yeah, I think so," said Sora. "Huh, I wonder what kinds of things they have."

"Burgers?" Pence guessed. "Americans like burgers and stuff, right?"

"Yeah, it's in the movies a lot," said Tidus. "Fries and hot dogs and soda."

"Like a fast food restaurant, almost," Olette added. "Don't get too fat over there, Sora! Wouldn't wanna ruin your figure."

"I won't!" Sora replied, pouting a bit. "Besides, Olette, you should be worrying about yourself, eating all that ice cream."

"You mind your own business!" Olette said, turning a little pink as the other two girls giggled, and their lunch continued.

ºoº

After school ended, Sora found his brother near the gate talking to Axel, really named Akuru―one of the weird things associated with Roxas' group of friends is that they all had nicknames for each other made by rearranging some of the letters in their real name and adding an X. To anyone outside the clique, it was odd and, needless to say, a little stupid.

Axel was one of the creepy freaks that he was friends with; a rather loud, annoying boy with red-dyed hair that did nothing to hide the original black roots. They both saw him coming, and moved to finish the conversation.

"So ask your parents about that Setzer concert, okay?" Axel said

"Yeah, sure," Roxas replied. "It's on Saturday, right?"

"Yeah, got it memorized?" said Axel, and grinned.

"...stop that, please," Roxas said, and Axel backed away almost like a scorned puppy; his self-proclaimed "catch phrase" was a recent invention of that week, and his suggestion to "get it memorized" at any instance was beginning to get on everyone's nerves. "Hey there, Sora."

"Hey, Roxas, ready to go home?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, sure," Roxas replied. "See you later, Axel."

"Don't forget to ask your parents!" Axel said, as Sora and Roxas walked together towards the train station.

"What was that all about?" Sora asked, Roxas reaching into his pocket and taking out his cell phone, with a built-in mp3 player.

"Setzer concert on Saturday, the gang and I are gonna go see him," he replied, placing the earbuds in.

"You sure Mom and Dad are gonna be okay with it?" said Sora. "And where are you getting the money to go?"

"Xemnas is paying for us all," Roxas replied, and smiled as a familiar song came on. "_Omoidaseba haruka haaarukaaa..."_

Sora laughed. "Listening to Utada-san again, are we?" he teased, and Roxas turned a bit pink and stopped singing.

"Shut up," he hissed, as they entered the train station and headed home. "It's the only song of hers I have on here."

"Ri-ight," Sora said, and Roxas nudged him as they sat down.

Sitting on the train, Sora watched as his brother quietly listened to some music, texting his friends without the slightest change of emotion on his face; he watched as a few middle school girls gathered around and softly whispered to each other about something; he watched a rather disgruntled-looking adult read the newspaper.

Then he began to think. He wondered if he would miss these familiar things; America seemed so different and strange and exciting at the same time! He'd definitely have some adjustment to do... but he was sure he could handle it. After all, he wouldn't be leaving for about two months. Plenty of time for research, he thought with a smile on his face, and got off the train.

ºoº

The two months until the end of June passed much quicker than Sora had ever imagined, and he could hardly believe it when he was in the airport, saying goodbye to his family and friends. Riku and Kairi and Namine had come with his parents and brother, and when Sora was sure nobody was looking, he gave Kairi a quick kiss on the nose, and she giggled.

"I'll miss you _so_ much," he said, brushing a piece of her red hair behind her ear. "Don't change while I'm gone, okay?"

"I never will," she replied.

"Picture!" Sora's mother called, and gathered the kids together for another photograph.

"_Hai chissu!__"_ everyone said. Roxas and Riku decided to grab both sides of Sora's mouth and pulled hard, causing Kairi and Namine to start laughing uncontrollably once Sora began to fight back.

"You'd better get on your plane, dear," said his mother, hugging him after getting over her giggles. "Have a good time!"

"And don't forget to write, I wanna hear all about it," his father added, ruffling his already unruly brown hair. Sora laughed and waved, slinging his carry-on bag over his back and entering the terminal.

ºoº

He woke up several hours later, tired and disoriented, in an airport somewhere in Calisota, and it suddenly dawned on him that he was in America. It was early afternoon, and it was almost surreal how drowsy he was, given the time.

He knew, according to the pamphlet and the leader of the program that had spoken with them upon landing, that there would be somebody waiting at the baggage claim for him. His new host family!

They had exchanged several emails already, but he hadn't yet seen a photograph. He knew that their last name was Goof, or something like that, and that the family consisted of a single father with a son around Sora's age.

The thought of finally meeting them gave him a slight burst of energy, and with a smile, he walked off the plane and found his way to the claim by following the line of students and chaperones and signs that occasionally had Japanese writing beneath, a wonderfully familiar sight.

Even the slightest bit of familiarity could help in this strange new country; more than half of the people walking past him in the airport were anthro, dogs and cats and birds that either towered above or shuffled below him. It was all amazingly strange, and so exciting! It was an entirely different feeling from walking around with people all around the same height and shape as him back at home.

He made it to the baggage claim and found his red suitcase, but afterwards he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do, so he searched the crowd until he saw the snowy head of Mrs. Thatch, the head of the exchange program in the school he was going to attend. She seemed to be fluent in just about any language thrown at her, and would switch just as easily from German to French to Chinese when students came up to ask questions about what they were supposed to do.

"_Excuse me, Thatch-san, I need a little help,__"_ he asked, and she turned to him with her wide, outlandishly blue eyes.

"_What is it, Watanabe-kun?__"_she asked.

"_I need help finding my host family...__"_ Sora said a bit sheepishly, and she smiled, flipping through a list of names with the students in the program written on them.

"_That's nothing to worry about, Watanabe-kun,__"_she replied. _"__Ah, here we are. Goofy Goof, he should be... over there, you see? That tall anthro over there.__"_She pointed to a tall, gangly anthro man that seemed to be some sort of dog, holding a sign that had Sora's name written in sloppy katakana with romaji beneath.

Sora's face broke into a grin. "_Thank you, Thatch-san!__"_ he said, gathered his suitcase , and approached him, nearly standing on his toes to tap him on the shoulder. "I'm Sora Watanabe, are you my host parent?" he asked, trying his hardest to make sure he could be understood. The man saw him and grinned.

"Well shucks, lookit you!" he said, and pulled Sora into a sudden hug. "You're even better in person! Yes, yes, I'm your host parent. A-hyuk! The name's Goofy Goof! It's great t'meet you, Sora!"

Sora, a bit shocked by this sudden development, pulled out of the hug and smiled; what a first impression! "Thank you, Guufu-san," he said. "It's nice to meet you in person, too! I didn't get a photograph."

"Shucks, that's a shame," Goofy said. "Oh well! What matters is that we're gettin' t'know each other now, right?"

"Right!" Sora said, and yawned in spite of his smile. "I'm very excited to meet you, finally! Are we going to your home, now? I'm very tired."

"Well shucks, y'must be," Goofy replied. "A flight all th'way from To-ki-o to here! You can get all th'rest y'need when we get t'my house, okay?"

Sora couldn't help but laugh a little; the way he pronounced Tokyo was rather... interesting, to say the least. "Thank you, Mister Guufu," he said.

"Just call me Goofy; okay, Sora?" said Goofy, and Sora nodded. Goofy put a large, gloved hand around Sora's shoulder, and began to lead the way out. "Gawrsh, m'son's so excited t'meet you too."

"Your son? I think I read about him," said Sora. "Makkusu?"

"Y'mean Max? A-hyuk, yep, that's him!" said Goofy, as they went into the parking lot. "He's about a year or so older'n you. A junior! You're a sophomore, right?"

"A second year high school student," Sora replied, "in the American system, right? I'm only a first year in Japan."

"Yeah, I think I did a bit of research on that!" Goofy said a little proudly. "Ah, here we are! Y'can put your suitcase here in the trunk." Goofy's car was a strange, little yellow thing, and Sora thought it looked rather cute, placing his backpack and suitcase in the trunk once Goofy had opened it. He crossed to the right side of the car, but was a bit confused to see the steering wheel in its place.

"What's this?" he asked, then almost hit himself on the head with his hand in embarrassment. "Oh! I forgot. Western cars have steering on the left side, right?"

"A-hyuk, that's right," Goofy said, laughing again. "You sit on th'other side, okay? Feel free t'doze off."

"Dozzo...?" Sora echoed.

"Fall asleep," said Goofy, understanding Sora's confusion. "It's a term we use over here."

"Right," said Sora, and got into the car. "I'm so excited to learn so many new things!"

"I bet!" said Goofy, and started the car. "Y'can tell me all y'want, but sleep in th'car first. You're tired."

"Thank you, Guhhi... Guufii... Goofy," Sora said, his eyes drooping as he rolled the strange word around in his mouth, trying to get used to it.

ºoº

"Sora, wake up, we're home," Goofy said, and Sora opened his eyes to see the cheerful anthro man nudging his shoulder. "I got your bags."

"Ah, thank you..." Sora said drowsily, and Goofy chuckled.

"I already got a room prepared for you, if you wanna sleep s'more," he said. "If you'd like t'get some rest in right away, be my guest. A-hyuk! Be my guest, that's funny!"

Sora rubbed his eyes and smiled a bit, and followed Goofy into the house, where he was escorted to a small room on the second floor, and flopped on the bed as soon as the door was closed.

He woke up a few hours later, as Goofy was cooking dinner, it seemed. A wonderful, vegetable-smell filled the air, and Sora wandered downstairs to see Goofy at a stove in what appeared to be a pink apron, and a younger version of himself putting plates on the table.

"Hello?" Sora said, and the younger-Goofy looked up and smiled.

"Hey Dad, look who's up!" he said, and Goofy looked around and grinned upon seeing Sora.

"Well g'mornin' sleepyhead!" he said. "Sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you," Sora said, rubbing his eyes. "Is it dinner time?"

"Yep! We got spaghetti tonight," said Goofy. "Max, go ahead an' introduce yourself!"

The younger Goofy put down the last plate, and extended a hand for a high-five. "I'm Max; nice to meet you, Sora!" he said, and Sora returned the high five. "Oh man, I can't wait until he meets Peej."

"Piju?" Sora repeated.

"Our neighbor's son, PJ," Goofy said. "He's into annie-may an' was so excited 'bout you showin' up."

"Ah, anime, you mean?" said Sora, somewhat excited; he heard that Japanese cartoons were popular in America, but he never expected to find someone that liked them so soon!

"Yeah, I'll take you to see him tomorrow," said Max. "He'll totally freak. You hungry, Sora?"

"Yeah!" Sora replied, smiling. "May I help with anything?"

"Umm... you can help put out the silverware," Max said, gesturing to the counter. "It's all in the topmost drawer. Dad, you wanna show him where that is?"

Goofy pointed to the drawer in question as he stirred the spaghetti sauce, and then reached for a small jar of spices. "Right over there, y'can put out a fork an' spoon for each place, Sora," he said. Seeing that the table was set for three, Sora got three of each utensil and placed them beside the plates, while Max fetched some glasses and filled them with water.

"Go ahead and sit down, Sora, we're almost finished cooking," Max said, taking the large bowl of spaghetti off the counter where it was resting and putting it in the center of the table. "How's that sauce lookin', Dad?"

"Almost done, Maxie!" Goofy replied, shaking the spices into the pot as he began to hum something that sounded like a dance tune. Sora sat, yawning a little from his nap, and folded his hands neatly into his lap as he waited for Goofy to finish.

"Turkey, lobster, sweet potater pie," Goofy sang softly, turning the gas flame off and pouring the saucepan into another bowl while he hummed the next few stanzas. "Oo-oh I! I'm gonna eat'n eat'n eat'n eat'n eat until I die!" He put the sauce bowl on the table and took his spot, folding his napkin into his collar. "Sora, y'wanna get served up first?"

"Huh?" said Sora. "Oh, serve up? As in... get food?"

"That's right," said Goofy, reaching for the fork and spoon stuck in the pasta. "I'll serve you up, you just hold out your plate and say 'when,' okay?"

"Oh, okay," said Sora, and held out his plate as instructed while Goofy began to heap pasta on it. "Um, that's enough, thank you."

"A-hyuk! Right, then," said Goofy. "Put on as much sauce as you want. You next, Maxie." Max held up his plate. "So, Sora, you likin' America so far?"

"Yes, though I haven't yet seen much!" he replied, laughing slightly as he ladled a little sauce onto his spaghetti. "Hopefully I'll see more tomorrow!"

"Yeah, that's for sure!" said Max. "I'll have to show you around Spoonerville, maybe bring Peej along. That's enough, Dad."

"And what about school?" said Goofy, beginning to serve himself. "Disney High is one of th'most well-known 'round here. Y'feel excited to attend?"

"Oh, yes!" said Sora, picking up his fork. "I got so excited after I did a little researching about it. Do you think I could try out for the baseball team?"

"Oh yeah, you did say you were into baseball in those emails," Max said. "Sure, I don't see why not, Sora. I'm sure they'd be glad to have you go to practice."

Sora grinned, and clapped his hands together, fork in hand. "_Idatakimasu!_" he said, before digging in.

"Eet-a-what?" said Max, stopping Sora mid-slurp with his noodles. Sora laughed and wiped off his mouth after he swallowed.

"It's a Japanese custom," he explained. "It's a way of thanking the cook for the food, I think."

"Ohhh, cool," said Max, and clapped his hands together in a way that vaguely copied Sora. "Eat-a-tacky-mass!" Sora and Goofy both began to laugh. "Oh man, PJ'd have a _fit_ if he saw you doing that. I bet he'd do it before you!" he added, and began to eat.

"Your friend, PJ," Sora said, twirling some spaghetti around his fork again. "He likes Japanese culture?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Max replied, after swallowing. "Like I said, he'll freak out when he meets you, I bet. Hope he doesn't scare you too much."

"Oh, I bet he won't," Sora said, laughing and putting the spaghetti in his mouth. When he finished, he said, "So is he an _otaku _of Japanese culture?"

"Otaku? Like, an anime fan?" said Max; Goofy sat, listening to them talk as he quietly added some grated cheese to his pasta.

"I don't quite understand," Sora said, furrowing his brow. "Is he an otaku of anime, or culture? Or both?"

"I dunno," Max said. "I just heard him use that word to talk about anime fans. That's what it means, right?"

" Otaku is an enthusiast of anything," Sora replied. "So you can be an otaku of anime or manga or television shows or... I don't know, bird-watching, even!"

"Oh, really? So it's like saying 'fan' in English?" said Max, and Sora nodded. "Cool, you should tell that to PJ when you meet him. Maybe teach him a thing or two."

Max began to laugh and took another bite of spaghetti, as did Sora.

"You two should head over t'morrow an' get a proper hello in," said Goofy. "Maybe y'could see what Pete's got in store for th'Fourth-a July celebration!"

"Yeah, I bet he's already out buying his fireworks," said Max.

"Pardon me, but what's the significance of July Fourth?" Sora asked. "I learned about it once, but I've already forgotten..."

"It's America's birthday," Goofy said, and laughed. "So, we all celebrate!"

"Oh, I think I remember, now!" said Sora, and patted his fist on his open palm. "The day the United States became a country, right?"

"Right!" said Max. "Japan doesn't have any holidays like that, though, does it?"

"Well, we have National Foundation day, on the eleventh of February," Sora said, looking at the ceiling while he thought. "It's the anniversary of the founding of Japan, which was a very long time ago. But we don't make as much spectacle about it as I've heard you do over here! There's fireworks, right?"

"Yep, and lots of 'em!" Goofy said. "It's only in four days, so you're in for a real treat! Y'get to see many fireworks?"

"Oh, yes! On New Years," said Sora, and laughed, twirling some spaghetti on his fork. "People get really excited for that. There's fireworks everywhere."

"Really? Fireworks on New Years?" said Max. "That's cool. Hey, maybe we should try that, when January rolls around. Huh, Dad?"

"We could buy some extra fireworks t'save for it..." Goofy said thoughtfully, clinking his fork on the edge of his plate. "It seems like a neat idea."

"What, putting out our own fireworks on New Years?" said Sora, and both of the Goofs nodded. "Oh, no! You don't have to do that for me."

"No, why not?" said Goofy. "I think it would be a lotta fun."

"Then when should we go buy those?" Max said. "Tomorrow? You can help us pick, Sora."

Sora began to laugh. "Okay, then let's do that."

ºoº

"Oh my _gosh, _I can't _believe_ it!" PJ said, as Max and Sora stood in his room the next day. "It's so nice to met you! Uh, _kangei_!"

"_Hajimemashite_," Sora replied, smiling somewhat nervously. "Nice to meet you, PJ."

"Oh my _gosh,_" PJ said again, "I'm being spoken Japanese to by an _actual Japanese person_! This is cooler than when you were at that Powerline concert, Max!"

"Oh, stop it, you!" Max said, laughing. "You're overreacting, Peej."

"Yeah, maybe," said PJ. "Your name's Sora, right?" Sora nodded. "Well nice to meet you too, Sora-_kun_!"

Sora laughed. "We're in America, PJ. No need for those things, but I appreciate the gesture."

"What, -_kun_ and -_chan _and stuff?" said PJ, and Sora nodded. "Ah, sorry! I'm just getting excited!"

"It's okay!" said Sora. "So, Max told me you are an anime otaku?"

"Oh yeah, and so is Bobby," said PJ. "But you won't meet Bobby 'till school starts, right?"

"Yeah, he's doing that tech camp or something," said Max.

"I can't wait," Sora said, smiling. Another American to talk about things with! "So, which series do you enjoy?"

"Oh, I like—" PJ began, but was interrupted as a thundering voice from downstairs sounded.

"PJ! C'mon out here an' help your ol' dad with the barbecue!"

"Oh, great, he's home from the store. Sorry, you guys," said PJ. "Duty calls."

"Don't worry, we'll help out if you need it," said Max. "Besides, Sora hasn't met your dad yet."

"Yeah, okay," said PJ.

"PJ!" the voice called again.

"Coming, Dad!" PJ replied. "C'mon, you guys. Max an' the exchange student staying at his house are here!"

Rounding the stairs and entering the kitchen, Sora came upon an enormous anthro man in a red polo shirt, a bag of barbecue charcoal tossed over his shoulder. He gave a rakish smile as they entered.

"Well hello there! All the way from Japan, eh?" he said, and Sora nodded. "You're in for some good old American Fun, then, huh! Fireworks! PJ!" He took the charcoal off his shoulder and tossed the bag at PJ, who caught it and stumbled backward. "Get the grill set up!"

"Yes, sir!" said PJ, and scrambled out the sliding door to the backyard.

"Ever seen fireworks before?" he asked Sora .

Sora nodded. "Oh yes, many times. We have fireworks for New Ye—"

"Bet they aren't as splendid as good old American fireworks!" Pete interrupted, placing a large hand on Sora's shoulder as Max backed away slightly. "C'mon out to my truck an' take a look, I just bought some today!"

"Uh, we might have to go, ourselves," Max said. "We were gonna go get some from the store today."

"Really? Then go ahead, get home," Pete said, and laughed. "Won't be as great as ours!"

"Sorry, PJ!" Max called; PJ, filling the grill with charcoal, shrugged.

"No biggie! I'll see you later!" he called.

"C'mon, Sora, I'll ask Dad if we can leave soon," Max said, and Sora nodded as they made their way across the lawn, as Pete began to unload several cardboard boxes with the words "CAUTION: FIREWORKS" written in red ink on them.

"I don't really mind if his fireworks are more impressive," Sora said, closing the gate to the lawn behind him. "The ones at home aren't that big to begin with."

"Yeah," said Max. "He's just like that, Pete."

"PJ doesn't take after him very much," Sora noted, and they entered the house through the garage.

"Nope, not really!" said Max. "Hey, Dad! Can we go get some fireworks soon?"

"Later this afternoon, Maxie!" Goofy's voice came from his bedroom. "I'm makin' lists for the party, a-hyuk!"

"Party?" said Sora, as Max began up the stairs.

"Yeah, we're inviting a few friends for the Fourth," said Max. "It'll be a good opportunity for you to meet them."

"Sounds cool!" Sora replied, as they came in to find Goofy at his desk, scribbling on a yellow legal pad.

"Grocery list, huh, Dad?" said Max, and Goofy nodded with the usual laugh.

"We gotta make sure everything's in order, y'know," said Goofy. "I don't wanna wait until the last minute!"

"All right," said Max. "When do you think we'll be ready?"

"After lunch," Goofy replied.

"I might go write an email," said Sora. "Um, which computer may I use?"

"There's one in the living room," Max replied. "It's got internet an' everything, so don't hesitate to use it."

"Thanks!" Sora said, and scampered down the stairs. Once the computer was on, he opened up the internet browser and got to his inbox, where a message was waiting for him.

_Subject: Miss You!_

_Hope you're having fun with your new host family. Be sure to mail me back and tell me all about it!_

_Kairi ♥_

Smiling and slightly blushing, he opened a new email and addressed it to Riku, Roxas, and Kairi—there was no need to address it to his parents or other friends, because word of mouth would spread fast enough.

_Subject: Updates from America!_

_Hey, everyone!_

_Reporting from sunny Calisota, here, I'm having a great time!  
My host family is extremely nice; Goofy is the father, and Max is the son. We had spaghetti and tomato sauce for dinner last night and it was really delicious.  
I have my own room, but I have to share a computer with everyone, but that's pretty fine. Goofy doesn't use it much, and neither does Max.  
We're going to visit the store today and get some fireworks and things for the Fourth of July celebration—it's like National Foundation Day, only with fireworks; at least, that's what I'm expecting. I'm going to meet a lot of their friends, so I'm excited._

_Oh, and their neighbors are nice too. PJ is Max's best friend, and he's an anime otaku. He treated me like I was some sort of idol and his Japanese was sketchy, but not too bad. His dad's name is Pete and he's very loud._

_I don't have much to report, but I'll be sure to tell you all what the Fourth was like._

_Take care!_

_Sora_

The email was sent, and he closed the browser and sat on the couch to watch some TV with Max until Goofy was finished with his list.

ºoº

"Yahoo!" Sora squealed, flying down the Slip n' Slide.

The Goof's party was small, compared to Pete's, but loads of fun.

At any rate, people seemed to be enjoying themselves more.

About five or six different families were invited to the Goof household, as opposed to the twenty or more of Pete's, and there was a noticeable difference in volume between the two yards, but the residents of the Goof party didn't care in the least. There were hot dogs on the grill, instead of Pete's monstrous steaks; a simple boom box provided the music, where Pete had a full stereo system; a few liters of soda stood on a folding card table, while Pete had bought an entire keg of root beer for the party goers to share. But they were happy, and as far as they were concerned, that was all that mattered.

Sora was having a fantastic time, himself, jumping through the sprinkler with three younger, identical anthro boys (ducks, they seemed to be) wearing matching swim trunks that allowed people to tell them apart. Max and his girlfriend, Roxanne, were sitting off to the side and talking with each other—Sora had been introduced to the girl early on, and she had left an excellent impression on him with her manner. Sora didn't mind that Max was spending more time with her. He was having fun with the sprinkler, so it wasn't on his mind in the first place.

"Sora! C'mover here!" Goofy called him, and Sora saw his host father waving at him by the card table. Snatching his towel and hastily drying himself off, Sora left the wet grass and approached Goofy where he stood on the concrete.

"Yes?" he said, and Goofy motioned to two much-smaller anthro men standing beside him.

"Just wanted to introduce you to two-a my bestest buddies!" said Goofy. "This here's Donald Duck, an' this is Mickey Mouse! You two, this is m'host son, Sora Watanabe. He's from Japan!"

The smaller of the two, a mouse with black skin (fur? Sora wondered) extended a gloved hand to Sora, and Sora shook it. "Nice t'meetcha, Sora!" he said, and Sora had to choke back a laugh; his voice was almost cartoonishly high.

"Uh, you too, Mister Mouse!" he said, grinning instead.

"No! Just call me Mickey!" the mouse said, laughing merrily. "I can't stand gettin' called that! Donald, why dontcha say hi too?"

"Hey, there," the other one, a duck, said, and extended a hand-like wing to Sora. Sora shook it, and the feathers felt smooth beneath his fingers.

"So, you're attending Disney High next year, arentcha?" Mickey asked, and Sora nodded.

"Sure am!" he said. "Did Goofy tell you?"

"Welp, not only that, but I'm the vice principal," said the mouse, and Sora gasped.

"Really! Oh, wow, that's... wow!" he said. "What an honor to meet you!"

Donald scoffed. "Honor? He's just a vice principal..." he said, and Mickey surprisingly laughed along with him.

"He's right. I'm really not that important, y'know," he said, smiling up at Sora. "Still, it's kinda nice that you're givin' me this respect!" He chuckled.

"Teachers should all be respected," Sora said, and shrugged. "At least, that's what I think. Oh... am I being too polite?"

The three anthros began to laugh at the boy in swim trunks before them. "No, no, Sora, you're jus' fine," Goofy said, his laughs decidedly the loudest.

"Oh, okay," said Sora, grinning in relief. "It will be nice to see you when the school year starts, Mickey."

"Can't start soon enough," Mickey replied. "I'm so bored, but Minnie and I are goin' on vacation soon, an' that'll be lotsa fun!"

"Sure will!" Goofy agreed. "Sora, Donald's a teacher at the school too, y'know."

"Geometry," Donald added grumpily. "I bet you're not takin' it, though."

"...actually, I am," Sora said, and scratched the back of his head. "I'm not the best when it comes to maths. Do you think I'll have you for a teacher?"

"Who knows," said Donald, and almost seemed to roll his eyes. "I have no idea what's wrong with you, Mickey, wantin' the year to start sooner. I want the summer to last as lo-ong as possible."

"Even dealin' with your nephews?" Mickey said, gesturing to the three boys in the sprinkler; so they were related to Donald! Sora thought. Small wonder. "They're gonna be freshmen this year, right?"

"Yeah, but that's not too bad," Donald said. "There's just three of them. Not as bad as full classes-a sophomore an' freshmen. Those're tough."

"Well!" Sora said, wanting to get back to the sprinkler. "It was very nice to meet you. See you when school starts?"

"Of course!" said Mickey, and waved. "Enjoy your summer! Maybe I'll see you before then!"

"Maybe!" Sora said, and sprinted back to the sprinkler, nearly landing on his back when he skidded through the grass. The duck triplets laughed at him as water landed in his face, and he laughed in return. It was all good fun.

"Seems like a good kid," Mickey said, putting his hands on his hips and smiling.

"Better'n most, I'd say," Donald added.

"Y'think so?" said Goofy, and chuckled when his two friends nodded. "Well, tha's good, then. Tha's real good."

"When're the fireworks?" Donald suddenly said, tapping his foot and making slapping noises on the concrete.

"After dark, y'know," said Goofy, and laughed. "It's only 4."

Donald made some sort of combination of a sigh, a grunt, a mutter, and a scream, and went to get another glass of soda.

"That duck has absolutely no patience," Mickey said, laughing a little and taking a sip of his own soda.

"Y'got that right," said Goofy, and crossed his arms as Sora fell flat on his back, further down the lawn. "Y'got that right."

The sky above the Goof's house was filled with the bright explosions of small bottle rockets that night, unhindered by the prospective explosions of Pete's fireworks.

The faulty things had become damp during shipping and refused to light properly, causing PJ to dismiss their guests rather redfacedly after his father became determined to have at least one cracker go off. He ended up staying up well into the early hours of the morning, and fell asleep on the lawn, unsuccessful.

All in all, it was a rather good night.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"I want to take the bus to school," Sora declared on the Monday before classes were due to start.

"Say what?" said Max. They were eating blueberry pancakes, courtesy of Goofy, for breakfast. "Sora, you know we can just walk there."

"But I want to take the bus!" Sora said, looking remarkably distressed.

"Why in the..." Max began, but Goofy, sitting down with a mug of coffee and his own pancakes, provided the answer.

"You don't have school buses over in Japan, dontcha?" he asked, and Sora nodded enthusiastically. "Well, there y'have it, Max! Sora just wants t'have the opportunity to a unique experience, a-hyuk!"

"Ah, I see," said Max. "But, really, are you sure?"

Sora nodded, again, very enthusiastically. "I've never been on a school bus before," he said. "I'm really curious."

"If you don't like it, you can just walk to school with me, like we were gonna before," said Max, sighing as he speared a few bits of pancake.

"I know, I know," Sora said, grinning. "Ah man, this is exciting!"

And what lay in wait for him the next day certainly was.

ºoº

On the first day of school, September 4th, Goofy walked with Sora out to the bus stop and waited until the yellow vehicle came rolling down the road and opened its doors for him.

Max, on the other hand, slept in until it was absolutely necessary to wake up, and met Sora at the school after tucking his skateboard under one arm and grinning.

"So? How'd it go?" he asked, and Sora gave a smile in reply.

"It was good!" Sora replied. "Not so fun getting up so early, though. So... maybe tomorrow I'll walk with you, and ride the bus sometimes?"

Max began to laugh. "Sure, that sounds good. Okay, so let's look over that schedule of yours and get everything right." The anthro boy had asked and received permission to be let out five minutes early from his classes on the first few days in order to meet with Sora and make sure he made his way properly to his classes.

Sora couldn't believe it at first that it was students and not teachers that rotated classrooms through the hours, and Max felt it was a good idea to offer some assistance, even though Sora claimed he understood a few days after arriving. "First hour: English, room 2319, with Mr. Genie. Let's head inside, okay?" said Max.

Sora nodded and followed Max into the hallway, where his host brother continued to talk. "Man, you're going to have such a fun time with Mr. Genie. I had him last year, and I hear he's a breeze compared to the _other_ teacher." He grimaced at the word "other."

"Who's the other teacher?" Sora asked.

"Mr. Frollo," said Max.

"And who's Mr. Frollo?"

Mr. Frollo walked past, at that moment, glaring at them with his sharp red tie vivid under his purple sweater vest.

"...that's Mr. Frollo," explained Max, and Sora thanked his lucky stars that he wouldn't be having the ghoul of a man as a teacher.

Across the hallway, as Max led Sora up the stairs to his locker, two very excited girls that hadn't seen each other all summer were meeting up. They belonged to a clique colloquially known as The Princesses, for obvious reasons. Each and every one of them was well-mannered, well-dressed, and the fantasy of every bachelor and non-bachelor in the school. They giggled and squealed at seeing each other.

"Cindy! How _are_ you?" Aurora said, hugging the girl in question and jumping up and down a little.

"I'm so good!" Cinderella (Cindy, for short) replied, and pulled out of the hug. "Oh, my _gosh_, you're so _tan_! Where on _earth_ did you go for vacation? Tell me _everything._"

"Oh, I'm gonna wait until Jasmine gets here!" she replied. "I heard Snow's gonna try and find us too."

"Snow! Her! Oh, I can't wait!" Cindy said, referring to the freshman that had been a friend of theirs since elementary school, and unfortunately left out of many of their high school events until then. "I haven't seen _anybody_ at all, outside of my family."

"How _are_ they?" Aurora asked. "Your step-mom an' sisters an' all. Been treating you better since that Prom Night Miracle?"

Cindy blushed― prom night last year had indeed been a bit of a miracle, with her turning up unexpectedly in a gorgeous white dress after being grounded by her step-mother, and finally getting asked to be the girlfriend of her current beau, "Charming" Charlie. "Just a little. Drizella and Anastasia have been a little nicer, lately, but my step-mom... well, she's just herself," she replied, and smiled. "I've been hanging out with Charlie, mostly."

"Oh, that's so _sweet,_" said Aurora, and gave a catlike smile. "Me and Phillip spent a lot of time together, too."

"You did? What'd you do?" said Cindy, and Aurora put a finger to her lips.

"Wait until Jasmine and Snow get― oh! There they are!" she said, and gave Snow, a tiny thing even for a freshman, a huge hug. "Hello, you!"

"Hi!" Snow squeaked. "Oh, my _gosh_, you guys, I'm _so _excited! And, and _so _nervous! But it's so good t'see you!"

"You too, Snow!" said Cindy. "And how are you, Jasmine?"

"Good..." Jasmine said, almost dreamily. But nobody really noticed, as Aurora finally had the opportunity to blab about her vacation with her boyfriend― classes didn't start for another fifteen minutes or more, at least.

"That's awesome; now, listen," she said. "Phillip and I... went to _Europe!_"

"You lucky thing!" gasped Snow. "I didn't go anywhere this summer..."

"Me neither," said Cindy. "Whereabouts?"

"Oh, all over," said Aurora, and giggled. "Germany, and France, and the UK, and then at the end we were in Russia. It was for ballet. Touring, y'know."

"How nice!" Snow said. "That's been keeping you busy, huh?"

"Sure has," Aurora replied. "Oh, but it was _so_ much fun... Well! Enough about me. We have things to discuss."

"Let's," Cindy said, and smiled as the four became a circle-shaped ring of conversation. "What's going on?"

"You hear about that new student? The open-enrollment one?" Aurora said, and poked Jasmine on the shoulder. "C'mon, Jazz, you prob'ly know her."

"Open-enrollment? What's she look like?" Jasmine said, snapping out of her miniature daydream.

"Oh, _you_ know: red hair, blue eyes. She's _gorgeous_, y'know," said Aurora. "Didn't catch her name, though. Emmy? Rachel?"

"Oh, Ariel!" said Jasmine, smiling once she recognized what they were talking about. "Yeah, I know her! The rest of the student council and I got to meet her and the foreign exchange students like a few weeks ago. She_ is_ really pretty."

"Where's she from?" Cindy said. "This Ariel girl, I mean."

"I think some private school across the lake," Jasmine replied, referring to the large body of water that separated Spoonerville from Mouseton. It was a rather popular hangout, and the subject of many an urban legend about mermaids living in its depths. "I dunno, she never really said. She's really nice, though! Odd, but nice."

"Odd like how?" Snow asked.

"I dunno how to describe it, really..." said Jasmine.

"Then why don't we ask her to lunch?" said Snow. "Wouldn't that be a good idea? I'd like to meet her."

"Snow, you are just _too _cute!" Aurora said, ruffling the top of Snow's head a little. Snow giggled and replaced her red plastic headband, loosened by the movement. "Sure, why don't we? Jasmine, see if you can do that?" Jasmine didn't reply, her eyes seemingly focused on something in the distance. "Hey, Jasmine!"

"Uh what?" she said, snapping to attention again. "What is it?"

"See if you can get Ariel to sit with us at lunch, okay?" Aurora said, and Jasmine nodded. Still, the girl wasn't satisfied. "Say, what've you been up to this summer? You look distracted."

"Not much... My dad's still trying to set me up with these... boring old sons of his business buddies," she replied, and crossed her arms.

"Any good ones out there?" Cindy asked, and Jasmine shook her head.

"Boorish and snobby, all of them," she replied. "Although... I did meet this _one_ boy..." Her face turned red, and the other three Princesses giggled.

"Who is he, who is he?" said Aurora.

"Oh, I never caught his name," Jasmine said, slightly sadly. "I met him at a party a few weeks ago, but some idiot brought beer or something, and the cops got called, so we had to run. Oh, but he was so _wonderful_. I hope I see him again."

"What was he like?" Snow asked. "Tall, dark, handsome?"

"And _more_," Jasmine said, and they all laughed. "I should tell you more at lunch. Okay? We should get to class"

"Kay!" the other three girls said, and Jasmine waved as she went down the hall in the direction of her AP World History class, the mysterious boy from that night and his warm smile swimming in her mind.

Somewhere across the school, the man of her dreams was walking down the hallway to his Calculus class, his white and purple sweatshirt still a little dirty from a bug that had hit him as he flew on his carpet to school.

Directly across the hall from him, his tiny girlfriend perched happily on his shoulder, walked his rival and arch-nemesis. As they walked, they acknowledged each other.

"Pan," one of them said.

"Al," said the other.

And as they walked off, both of them knew that there was probably going to be a war that year, as both were seniors, and both of them strove for prank immortality rivaling that of their vice-principal's legendary escapades.

And it was gonna be intense.

ºoº

"I'll be waiting outside this door here for you when your class ends, okay?" said Max, after leading Sora to the right classroom. "I'll take you to Math afterward."

"Okay, thanks!" said Sora, and waved as Max vanished down the hallway. He took a breath, nodded resolutely, and opened the door.

The place looked like any old classroom at home, except maybe a bit more... lived-in, he supposed? Movie posters were everywhere on the walls, and the teacher's desk, which was at the front of the classroom and to the left, was full of assorted action figures and trinkets. Sora could have sworn he saw a small, scale model of an Evangelion amidst the things, and he smiled. He had a feeling he'd like Mr. Genie.

Students were already in their seats or near them (including a rather small elephant, who patiently sat at the back of the class with a pencil in his trunk), either talking or looking disinterested. Sora, not quite knowing what to do, tapped a female student on the back. He hardly noticed that she seemed to have a horse's body instead of legs. "Excuse me, where do I sit?" he asked.

"Oh, anywhere," she replied, and returned to her conversation.

"Thanks!" Sora said, and took a seat in the middle of the class. He sat there, cheerily drumming his fingers on the desk as he got out a notebook and pencil, waiting for the class to begin.

The bell for the start of the hour―something somewhat familiar to him, although the bells back home were less shrill and more like a song―tolled, and the students that had been standing around and talking got into their seats. However, the teacher was still nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, with a cloud of fuchsia smoke, Mr. Genie himself appeared.

He was a being Sora couldn't quite describe; he looked (mostly) human, but his skin was... bright blue. He was bald, and his ears, which were pierced with small gold loops, were pointed. Sora had never seen anything like him.

"Okay, class!" Mr. Genie said, placing the notebook he was holding on the podium. "Welcome to your first day of 10th grade English. With me. How're you all doing?" There were some half-hearted mumbles of "Good," and "Okay." Mr. Genie seemed to be satisfied with that, and continued. "Well, that's just great. Now, first thing's first―I'm going to call roll. Let me know if I pronounce your names correctly, or if you have any nicknames. Okay?"

Again, the students chorused half-heartedly, and Mr. Genie began.

"Kenai Aleut?" he said, looking over the list. "Kenai?"

"It's Bear now, actually," a voice said from the back of the class, and a host of heads all looked to see a bear (indeed!) sitting at a desk, wearing a football jersey with a smile on his face. Mr. Genie knit his eyebrows together, and looked at his roll call again.

"So I see!" he finally said. "I think I had your brothers before, Kenai. I'm really very sorry to hear about Sitka."

"It's okay," Kenai replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I think he's content where he is."

"So, you've obviously been up to _something_ over this summer, Kenai," Mr. Genie continued, smiling as he folded his arms. "Anything worth… mentioning?"

A few students, who had known Kenai previously (and definitely not as a bear), nodded their heads. Kenai gave a thoughtful expression, as he tried to think of way to explain.

"I did a little… soul searching over break," he finally replied, smiling again. "Mr. Genie, shouldn't you be going on?"

"I'll decide whether or not I do that, thank you," Mr. Genie said, though he hardly looked serious with that grin on his face. "Okay, Kenai Bear. Check. Next up…John Darling?"

"Here," a boy in glasses said.

"Right," said Mr. Genie, and checked him off the list. "Andy Davis?" A boy in a blue t-shirt with a pattern of spaceships, here. "Dumbo Elephant?" Obviously, the elephant at the back of the room, who meekly raised his trunk. "Quasimodo Frollo?"

"Here…" a boy sitting near Sora said, and Sora nearly jumped in his seat upon noticing. His face looked absolutely disgusting! And was his last name Frollo? Was he the son of that awful English teacher Max was telling him about? A few other kids grimaced noticeably, and Quasimodo's eyes drifted downward.

"Nice to have you here. Mind if I call you Quasi?" said Mr. Genie, and the boy nodded meekly. "All right, then."

The door suddenly burst open, and the sparkling shine of gold necklaces filled the room as the owner of them cried, "BOOM, BABY."

"And you must be Mr. Inca," Mr. Genie said, smirking, and unimpressed. "You're late."

"Hey, man. Chill," said the student, adjusting the yellow baseball cap that fit snugly over his long, black hair. "Just chillax."

"Sit down, Kuzco," Mr. Genie said, "and hats _off_ in my class, if you would please."

Kuzco looked appalled as he took the remaining seat on Sora's other side. "You're totally ruining my groove, man!" he said.

"Yeah, well, _dude_. My classroom. My rules. Hat off, pah-lease," Mr. Genie said, leaning over and plucking the thing from Kuzco's head. "Thank you."

The door, which seemed to have been left open, finally closed, and Mr. Genie yelled.

"Intruder!" he cried, pointing at a person dressed in dark clothes that was attempting to end as non-conspicuously as they could. "Halt, intruder!"

The offending student looked mortified. "Huh?!" he said.

"You, there. What's your name?" Mr. Genie asked.

"Uh... Jim?" the student replied.

Mr. Genie scanned his role list, sliding a blue finger down the list until he found something. "James Hawkins?"

"It's Jim," the boy replied sourly.

"All right there, Jim," Mr. Genie said, checking off his name. "I'd appreciate it if you show up on time from now on, all right?"

"Whatever," Jim replied, and took his seat.

"Good; now, where did we leave off?" Mr. Genie said, and role continued. There were two interesting incidents with two female students: a girl all in green whose name was supposedly Spring Sprite, and was taking an oath of silence; and a girl whose name was Lilo Pelekai, that asked a very interesting question.

"Mr. Genie, are you a djinn? Like, a real life one?" she had asked.

Mr. Genie laughed. "Well, little lady, you sure are sharp! I sure am," he said. "100 born and raised. Free, o'course."

"Well, of course you'd have to," Lilo continued. "Wow, it's cool to meet one!"

The rest of the class, however, had no idea what she was going on about.

Another girl, whose name was Ariel, made a bit of a scene when she didn't speak at first, upon hearing her name called—she was simply too excited to actually be in the class, which everyone thought unusual.

Sora was the last called, and felt a little on-the-spot when Mr. Genie called his name and asked how he was enjoying America so far.

"It's nice!" Sora said. "I'm having lots of fun."

"Great to hear, kid," said Mr. Genie. "Okay; now that that's out of the way, we can start. So, welcome to the wonderful world of English! It's gonna be a real wild ride of a year (well, maybe only a half, for some of you) so you'd all better hold on to your seats. All right?"

The students mumbled nervously. Mr. Genie nodded thoughtfully, and disappeared suddenly in a cloud of purple smoke. He reappeared wearing an unusually formal suit, replacing his jeans and polo shirt, a pipe in his mouth.

"Now, the world of the literary may seem like a very boring place..." he said, and disappeared in another cloud of smoke, returning in his regular outfit. "Not true! We're gonna have some serious fun this year. And I guarantee it. So, if you'd all get out the reading you had to do over the summer, we can get started with some discussion, all right?"

Sora smiled, and did so. He already felt like he was beginning to fit in.

ºoº

"So remember, bring that syllabus back by the end of this week signed by your parent or guardian, okay?" Mr. Rourke said, at the end of History class. "Now, I'll let you out early. Class dismissed!"

Sora gathered his things, met by Max at the door, and sighed. "Mr. Rourke sure is strict!" he said.

"Yeah, he is," Max laughed. "You know people sometimes call him Commander Rourke?"

"Commander, as in... the army?" said Sora, and Max nodded. "Is that a joke?"

"I guess," Max replied. "You ready for lunch?"

"Absolutely!" said Sora. "I can't believe how hungry I am!"

"Then I'll show you where all the choice lines are," Max said, leading Sora down a flight of stairs to the common area near the cafeteria. "Word of advice. Do not. Under any circumstances. Eat the spinach puffs."

"Spinach... puffs?" said Sora. Max nodded gravely.

"Yes. You'll regret it," he said, and Sora nodded, determined to stay away from these deadly spinach puffs, whatever they were.

Once they were in the line, however, Max went off to get something else, leaving Sora alone to shuffle forward and fill his tray. The cafeteria was filled with talking, but in the kitchen where he and the other students were getting lunch, there was music.

The cooks, it seemed, were singing.

"_Oh, a whale of a tale I'll tell ya, lad! A whale of a tale or two! 'bout the flappin' fish, and the girls I've loved, and night's that I've sang to the moon above! Whale of a tale I'll tell ya, lad, a whale of a tale or two!_ Sing it with me, Kronky; it's your verse, lad!"

A rather large man with what appeared to be a machine-based arm placed a tray of corn dogs down as he finished his verse. Another man, equally large, but appearing to be made more of muscle than fat, emerged from the kitchen with a tray of something.

"John, I just gotta tell ya," he said, putting the tray down further in the line. Sora noticed that the students in the line ahead were avoiding it like the plague, "I just forgot the words!"

"Typhoon Tessie, then, lad," the man with the machine-arm said. "You surely know that one."

Sora took a corn dog with a pair of tongs, placing it on his tray and ogling at the cook's mechanicle arm as he went by. The cook noticed.

"Y'be likin' that?" he asked, and Sora quickly diverted his attention to getting a cup of grapes. The chef laughed.

Adding one of the yummy looking, pastry-like things to his tray, Sora went and paid for his lunch, and found Max sitting with PJ, as well as another boy he didn't know.

"Find your way through all right?" Max asked, and Sora nodded. "That's good! I got somebody to introduce to you." He gestured towards the other boy at the table, who was wearing sunglasses. "This is Bobby. Bobby? Sora."

"How's it smokin'-a?" Bobby asked, and Sora smiled.

"Good, I guess!" he said. "How are you?"

"Righteous, dude," said Bobby, and reached into his backpack for something. He produced a small can of something, and proceeded to squirt its yellowy contents into his mouth.

"What is... that?" Sora said, reaching for something to eat.

"The food of the _gods_," Bobby replied, smacking loudly, yellow staining his mouth.

"It's Cheez-Wiz," PJ explained.

"...oh," Sora said, and bit into the small pastry he had picked up from the line.

PJ just about exploded.

"SORA WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU EATING?!" he screamed. The entire cafeteria went silent.

Sora took a moment to stop chewing, and took a look at just what exactly he _was_ eating. He was a little distracted by the man with the robot-arm, after all, and had more or less grabbed whatever was in front of him in the line.

It appeared to be some sort of... dumpling, or pastry, with a creamy vegetable center. And, to tell the truth, it was really rather good.

"I... don't know?" Sora said.

"I told you not to eat one of those!" Max said. "Those are Kronk's Spinach Puffs!"

"They're fatal!" PJ added, fearfully. Sora gulped, and stared at the offending food. Fatal?!

Whispers began to spread throughout the cafeteria—the kid had eaten one of Kronk's Spinach Puffs!

Sora put the food down and began to nervously look around at everyone staring at him, when Kronk himself came striding out of the kitchen with a look of utter shock on his face. Before he knew it, he was standing behind Sora, staring at the half-eaten puff on his tray.

"You... ate my spinach puffs?" he said, almost softly. Sora nodded.

Kronk then proceeded to give Sora the largest hug he had ever received.

"Thanks, kid! I tell you what, it seems like just _nobody_ wants to try them, and I'm always trying new recipes! Tell me, how is it?" His voice was giddier than a kid's at Christmas. "Come on, be honest with me. Ol' Kronk can take it."

"It's... good?" Sora said, managing to squeeze the words out. "Nothing wrong with them?"

"Thanks, kid!" Kronk said. "What should I add? Some paprika, maybe a little bit of oregano-"

"Kronk! Get back here!" a voice called, as a rather angry cook (not the one with the mechanical arm) exited the kitchen.

"Sorry, Louie!" Kronk said. "Kid, what's your name?"

"Sora Watanabe," Sora said.

"Thanks, Sora!" said Kronk, and skipped back into the kitchen. The silence in the cafeteria persisted for a few moments more, before all conversation resumed.

"What was that all about?" Snow asked, from a table across the room. "Was it something about spinach?"

"Kronk's famous spinach puffs," Jasmine explained. "The first time he put them out, I think somebody got sick. Nobody's touched them since. Wow, that kid (whoever he is) must have guts." She sipped at her milk through her straw, and nudged the girl next to her. "Hey, Ariel. Are you okay?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm fine!" Ariel squeaked, smiling. "I'm sorry, this is just the first time I've ever been in a real cafe-torium! I'm really excited."

"You mean cafeteria?" said Cindy.

"Oh! Yes, that!" Ariel piped, and giggled. "I'm sorry."

"No biggie," Cindy replied. "So, you said you were home-schooled, right?"

"For the most part, yeah," Ariel said.

"So what brought you to enroll here at Disney High?"

Ariel bit her lip as she thought, and wiggled her fork between her fingers. "The choir system!" she finally said. "I just really love to sing! And there aren't any decent public choirs out there."

"So I see!" said Jasmine. "Are you liking Ms. Ursula?" Ms. Ursula was the choir director, a large diva of a woman that everyone referred to by first name.

"Oh, she's fun!" said Ariel. "She's the one that actually... showed me the choir system here! I'm very grateful." She gave another smile, but one that was slightly nervous, it seemed.

"Glad you found something you like, then!" said Snow. "I'm really excited about the choir program, too! I'm in the freshman girls' choir!"

"Good for you, Snow," Cindy said, rubbing Snow on the top of the head.

"Yes, I bet you sing beautifully," said Ariel.

Jasmine sighed. "Where's Aurora?" she said.

Aurora came stomping to the table with an annoyed grunt. "Hey, what's wrong?" Snow asked.

"Megara," she said, and groaned.

"...Megara?" Ariel said innocently.

"Yes! Her, and that... scumbag of a boyfriend of hers, Gaston!" Aurora seethed. "You won't believe what she's done! It's the last straw, _honestly!_"

"What did she do this time?" Jasmine asked, and Aurora crossed her arms, slumping in her seat. Honey-blond hair fell over the back of her seat.

"Barely five minutes into first period, and she's already onto me, the... slut!" Aurora said, frustrated enough to curse. Snow gasped.

"What did she call you this time?" Jasmine said.

"Anorexic Ballet Bimbo," Aurora said lowly. Snow gasped again, while Ariel listened on, concernedly.

"She didn't!" Snow said.

"Oh, she did," said Aurora. "I mean, honestly! I can't believe her! And seriously? If anyone's going to have to see someone about an eating disorder, it's her. You can practically see her ribs!" She angrily bit off the end of her corn dog, without dipping it into mustard first.

"That was really uncalled-for," Cindy said, in her gentle, concerned tone of voice. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know!" Aurora said, her mouth full of corn dog. "It's just... this is the last straw, and... Jeeze!" She chomped on her corndog again. Jasmine was thinking.

"Well, maybe you should get back at her," she suggested.

"Like how?" said Snow.

Jasmine began to smile, very nasty ideas beginning to hatch in her mind. "What does Meg covet the most?" she said.

"Gaston?" said Cindy, and Jasmine nodded.

"Bingo," she said. "If we take away Gaston, then she'll never bother you again, I bet."

"Seriously?" said Aurora, and Jasmine nodded. "I suppose it's worth a shot. But... how do we do that?"

"Isn't it obvious? Find someone better," said Jasmine.

"But someone not obvious, right?" said Cindy. "I mean, Gaston's hit on just about every girl in the school at least _once_. The nice-looking ones, anyways," she added. "Drizella and Anastasia haven't had the honor, I think."

"A makeover-type-thing?" said Snow.

"Worth a try!" said Jasmine. Ariel began to look a little uncomfortable, as the conversation had strayed into material she wasn't very much interested in, nor were they including her in it.

"I think I'm going to head off to my next class," she said quietly, but was ignored, save for a small "Bye, Ari!" from Snow. And, so, Ariel disappeared indeed, to find another table.

Back within the conversation, the plotting continued.

"Who's our subject, then?" said Aurora, and Jasmine stood up for a moment to scope out the cafeteria. A few possible ideas hit her eye.

"Mia Thermopolis?" she mentioned, and the remaining Princesses all shook their head.

"That would be really tough," Cindy said. "She's a really sweet girl, though."

"Yeah, she is," said Aurora. "I don't think she'd appreciate it much, either."

"What about Gretchen Grundler?" Cindy suggested, pointing to the girl with hugely oversize wire spectacles on the other side of the cafeteria.

"Not really the type," Jasmine said.

"How about her?" Snow said, pointing to a cluster of students passing by.

"Huh? Which one?" said Aurora, craning her neck.

"The one in the blue sweater," Snow replied. "She looks pretty, but she's hanging out with some real computer nerds, isn't she?"

Aurora's mouth slowly dropped open, and she smiled. "She's perfect. Jasmine, do you know her?"

"That's the new head mechanic's daughter!" she gasped. "I think her name's Belle! She's seriously hardcore about studying. All AP or IB classes, I heard!"

"Wow, that's amazing," Cindy gasped.

Aurora continued to smile. "I think she's the perfect girl for Gaston."


End file.
